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Wrestling has best finish in program history at prestigious Franklin Savings Bank Invite

On December 12, the Foxcroft Academy wrestling team traveled to Mt. Valley High school to compete at the Franklin Savings Bank Invitational Tournament, where the Ponies finished an impressive second out of 17 very good teams. Other teams at the meet included Class A Powerhouse Noble, Class B State Champion Ellsworth, and Class C State Champion Dirigo.

Going into the finals, Noble had a slight advantage, but the six Ponies, who made finals, gave Noble a scare, pulling within 3.5 points to finish a very close second–FA’s best finish at the tournament in program history.

“I am very happy with how we wrestled,” said Coach Ayala, whose team also swept the competition at Dexter on Wednesday. “We proved at Mt. Valley that we are one of the best teams in the state. This should motivate us to continue to work hard. This is very early in the season right now, but I like were we are heading.”

Photo of Breyer Manchester taken by Gabrielle Jolin.

Girls basketball improves to 2-2

After dropping the first two games of the season, the girls basketball team has improved to 2-2 with wins over Caribou and Hermon.

Abby Simpson led 10 Pony scorers in the team’s first win over Caribou last Saturday. Simpson had 19 points, while Madison Chadbourne (12), Beaudry (8), Alli Bourget (6), and Grace Bickford (5) all chipped in more than five points for a balanced attack that has become characteristic of the Ponies during the first stretch of the season.

“The Big East conference is very competitive from top to bottom,” said Coach Smith, whose team won its second consecutive game 40-31 over Hermon Wednesday night. “There will be no nights off, as there isn’t a gimme on the schedule. We have set a team goal to host the first round of playoffs and hopefully go to the Cross Center. We hope to continue to gel as a team and be better in February than December.”

The road to the playoffs continues at Washington Academy on Saturday as the Ponies look to stay hot and extend their win streak to three games. The Ponies will also take on Orono on Tuesday and Houlton on December 28, over the holiday break.

Swim racks up 9 firsts and 6 seconds in win at Old Town

Last week, the Pony girls racked up nine first-place and six second-place finishes at Old Town to swim away with their second consecutive team victory. Avery Carroll won the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. Showing tremendous range, Jenna Clukey won the 50-yard and 500-yard freestyle events. Elena Russo won the 100-yard freestyle and was second in the 100-yard backstroke, trailing only twin sister and winner of the event Alice by one-hundredth of a second. Gabie Johnson won the 100-yard breaststroke and got second in the 50-yard freestyle, while Abby Henderson swam the second best time in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Madison Fadley finished second in both the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard freestyle.

The 200-yard medley relay of Carroll, Johnson, Clukey, and A. Russo and the 400-yard freestyle relay of Clukey, Fadley, Johnson, and Carroll also finished first, while the 200-yard freestyle relay of E. Russo, Henderson, Fadley, and A. Russo earned second place.

The boys team, which is comprised mostly of first and second-year swimmers, also had a tremendous day, showing remarkable improvement. In just one week, David Salley took seven seconds off his 100-yard freestyle, Owen Booker took nine seconds off his 100-yard breaststroke, and Pedro Bastos, swimming in his first meet ever, finished second in the 50-yard freestyle. Hunter Giacomuzzi, Nathaniel Skomars, Buddy Sletterink, and Boatai Zhou also improved upon their times from the previous meet.

“Our girls team swam terrifically against Old Town-there’s no doubt about that-but I’m just as proud of our boys team,” commented Coach Rublee. “Our boys team is comprised mainly of first-year swimmers, and for the majority them to shave several seconds off their personal records in the second meet of the season is incredible.”

The swim team will be hosting a meet this Friday at the PRYMCA at 6:15 pm.

Photo of the swim team taken by Racquel Bozzelli.

Boys basketball prepares for three-game road trip

In the very competitive Class B North region, the boys basketball team has faced tough competition during the first weeks of the season, falling to John Bapst, Caribou, and Hermon.

The losses were not without bright spots as Milo-transfer Noah Allen has been impressive, scoring 53 combined points over the three-game span. Hunter Smith also appears to be returning to form rapidly from an injury that kept him sidelined during the fall, Freshman guards Hyatt Smith and Jeremy Richard are maturing quickly, and Phil Plenginer has shown sharpshooting potential–going 5-5 for 13 points in the game against Caribou.

The Ponies will look to earn their first win on the road over the holiday break as they take on Washington Academy this Saturday, Orono on Wednesday, and Houlton the following week.